So I have had poor washer performance for months. Tried several quick fixes and nothing worked.

Decided to get dirty and pull the pump motor out from under the wheel well shroud and check the washer fluid container filter screen.

As you can see in the attached photo, that was the culprit. It was clogged so bad, nothing was making it to the windshield.



Nasty. Just nasty.

A better view of the clogged filter.


After I cleaned the clog from the filter and gave a good rinse to the washer fluid container, all is well again.

It only took a few minutes to get to the pump and filter. I didn’t even have to take the front wheel off. Just turned it so I could get my hands into the wheel well arch and pull back the plastic shroud by the washer pump.

If you are having issues with your system, I highly recommend this as a troubleshooting option.

 

hmm
so no need to take off wheel? there's enough room to mess around there?
I was thinking of doing it and really it's just the drivers side that doesn't work usually

might try it then

 

Nope. I didn’t take the wheel off. Just turned it all the way out. Removed only one of the plastic screws that sit at the bottom of the plastic shield. There were two. Pulled back the plastic shield a bit, and you can reach right in and grab the unit. A flashlight helps seeing in there. The rubber filter is in pretty tight and took some muscle and good grip to pull it out of the washer fluid container. Other than that, pretty easy to do.

If one of yours is working and one isn’t, is it possible you have a bad T valve, where the hose splits and goes to each of the wiper arms? I’ve seen videos where people show how those fail and can stop a wiper sprayer from working properly. Just a thought.

Good luck with the fix.